Ballad of the Aleutian Queen
by Jessie May Stone
Summary: DEADLIEST CATCH- She is a rarity in the crabbing world; considered to be bad luck aboard most if not all fishing vessels in Dutch Harbor, save for her own boat. Please R and R
1. Prologue

Prologue

The _Aleutian Queen_:

-Deep purple with burgundy and silver trim and lettering. Previously national blue and corn gold

-Wheelhouse: house aft

-Built in 1972

-Length: 128' with a max capacity of 210 crab pots

Crew:

-Captain: Amber Spotted Elk-Jennings

-Deck Boss: Frank Dobbs

-Engineer/Deck Hand: Tony Miles

-Relief Skipper/Deck Hand: Marty Connors

-Deck Hand: Rodney Harrison

-Deck Hand: Roy Penn

-Greenhorn: Collin McDaniel

~.*.~

She is a rarity in the crabbing world; considered to be bad luck aboard most if not all fishing vessels in Dutch Harbor, save for her own boat. The boat itself has under gone a change in color, from national blue with corn gold trim and lettering to a deep, regal purple with burgundy silver trim and lettering. For as long as she remembers it has been in her family and she will do her damnedest to keep it that way.


	2. Dutch Harbor

She is in Dutch Harbor for the first time in three years, and not much has changed in the small town that overlooks Captains Bay, except that name of the fisherman's bar, The Elbow Room is now known around town as Latitudes.

In the three years she has been off the never ending grind off fishing she has been improving her vessel, the _Aleutian Queen_. The boat itself is thirty some years old and had been needing a major overhaul. Previously the boat's colors were blue and gold, and didn't really read royal to the captain, so she changed them to the current deep purple and burgundy. The engine room and the crew quarters also got renovated.

Now she stands on the dock, looking at her couple ton steel baby. The _Queen _is one of the largest boats in the fleet and has been one of the top performers, to which her captain wanted, no needed to maintain. She feels an arm snake around her shoulder.

"Well, well, that is one fine looking boat Captain Jennings," an all too familiar voice says.

"Joshua Harris, you oughta know better than to go sneaking up on people like that." Amber Jennings replies, her Norwegian temperament showing.

"Now you had to have felt my arm around your shoulders,"

"Not the point Ding, where's your brother Dong?"

"Jake's...not here," Josh sighs, "can I buy you a drink?"

"You know me; I don't drink until after the season is over."

"Ri-ight, that alcohol superstition you have as well as that quarter thing when leaving port."

"Hey, it's better than the Swedish Circle thing the Hillstrands do," Amber says defensively; one of her crew members, Roy Penn, is a Cajun.

"Don't get all defensive, just making a joke."

"Time and a place Josh Harris," Amber responds, rolling her eyes.

"Dinner at the Grand?"

"Are you asking me out…on a date?"

"No, just want to take some time to catch up with Dad's protégée."

"Look, Josh, as much as I want to, I have a lot of things that have to be done here before King Season starts."

"It can wait,"

"No, Josh, it can't, I want to test the new engines here in the Harbor this afternoon. By the way, sorry about Phil, he was a good man, a better fisherman, and an even better father; he's an angel behind the fleet now."

Josh's eyes well with tears, not a moment goes by that he doesn't think about is father. "See ya around town then?" he asks as she boards her boat.

"I'll be around, drop a line if you need anything." With that she disappears into the galley of the _Queen_.

~.*.~

October fifteenth, is the traditional start of the Red King Crab season on the Bering Sea, and as Fate would have it the fifteenth just so happens to land on a Friday. Amber gazes out the windows of the wheelhouse for what seems like forever before she gets on the two way radio waves.

"Hey, _Northwestern_, this is the _Aleutian Queen_, got your ears on Sig?" Radio fishing isn't Amber's style, but the Hansen boys are her third cousins, on her mother's side of the family.

"_Ah, I heard the Queen was back in town and sporting new colors._" Sig replies moments later.

"Ha, ha, very funny. Blue and gold read more Future Farmers of America than the queen of all crab boats."

"_Mind your boastfulness Amber, preseason talk like that can get one into heaps of trouble._"

"Like you Hansen's don't pretend to be the kings of the ocean."

"_Come now cousin; settle in to running the boat again, no need to be back up here right after the fresh paint is dry._"

"I called to say I'm hosting supper on my boat tonight for all the captains and their kin, if any that work on their vessels, if you could pass the word around to Jonathan and Andy that would be great."

"_I believe Edgar and I can make it over, you know how Norm is, and yeah, I'll pass the information along, see you tonight._"

Amber thinks it will be a good idea to get all the captains in the _Queen's _galley before the season starts, to see old friends and meet new faces, and of course make the traditional Captains' Wager.


	3. Dinner on the Queen

Word soon spread throughout the fleet about Amber's little dinner party on the _Aleutian Queen_. Most radio back to her saying that they are most defiantly coming, others say maybe, and one says that they are unable to make it. Among those coming are the Hillstrands, which Amber is glad of. She spends the rest of the day cooking and baking for dinner. As was a long standing crew tradition, her crew goes to the Grand Aleutian Hotel to have their preseason dinner, except this time it is without their captain.

The food gets done just as Sig and Edgar haul themselves over the rail and onto the deck of the _Queen_. They tour the deck for a while before stepping below to take their seats at the galley table. Soon after, the other captains start to arrive, some bringing a covered dish, others with nothing more than themselves. Amber greets them all in the same way, a simple, firm hand shake.

Set in her role as the hostess, Amber serves everyone else before herself; which everyone thinks is a little strange, being that crabbers have their own way of doing things, which usually means one serves themselves.

"Amber, you don't need to impress us like this, everyone knows you've already made a name for yourself fishing." Andy tells her, as she serves him and Johnathan.

"I am extending hospitality, nothing more," she replies in a hushed tone.

Everyone knows that she has some minor health concerns, and guesses she was there ADR (against doctor's recommendation). But the strange thing is that they know she doesn't smoke and she rarely drinks anything other than coffee, sweet iced tea, and water.

~.*.~

It is the day before the king crab season was set to start and like any other boat the _Aleutian Queen _is making last minute preparations before leaving town. Amber and her relief skipper, Marty Connors, are up in the wheelhouse looking over the crab surveys and charts of the ocean floor to map out where the first prospect strings were going to be dropped. Amber lay on the bench that was attached to the aft port wall of the wheelhouse, next to the stairs that lead down to the staterooms and the galley; she will not admit it, but she is feeling the stress of being the skipper of a boat for the first time and it was causing her heart to beat off rhythm, even though she'd taken her medication.

"You alright, Cap?" Marty asks his niece.

"I'm fine, Marty," she replies, somewhat strained.

Marty sighs and walks over to her. He felt the pulse at her wrist. "Did you take your medication this morning?" he asks.

"Yes," Amber replies, wearily.

"You should rest Amber, don't want you coming down with anything while we're out there." He gestures vaguely to the ocean beyond Priest Rock.

She nods in reply and heads down to her state room to get a few more hours of sleep. She knows the crew will go on a last minute grocery run and top off the fuel tanks before heading into town for a round of Duck Farts. With the way she is feeling now, she knows it will be a long hard grind ahead.


	4. Day One

With the pantry well stocked and the fuel tanks as full as can be, the lines are thrown and the _Aleutian Queen _was put into gear and steered towards the open ocean. After a good while Amber calls a crew meeting in the wheel house.

"Well boys," she begins, "I believe this is going to be a long season, but if we work together I'm sure that we can pull this off."

The men groan. "So much for the start of season pep talk," Greenhorn Collin McDaniel says under his breath.

"Now just settle down boys," Marty cuts in. "We all know that Amber's got a few health concerns, hence why I'm here, the best thing we can do for her is not get her all up in arms over anything, save for mechanical issues; in which case she's got every right to be up in arms over.

Frank sighs, he and Marty have known Amber since she was a little girl, and they both still see her in this way. "Ams," he says. "I'll see to it these boys toe the line for ya."

"Thank you, Frank." Now Amber sighs. "We're gonna be staying north and west of the rest of the fleet, same as the _Northwestern_, Sig says that there should be, knock on wood, enough in his old man's honey hole for both boats to turn a descent profit, if not we just pull up and steam a few more miles to the northwest."

The two senior deck hands remain quiet, not knowing their skipper's mood. Roy was the first to speak. "Uh…Skipper, how much is our quota for?" he asks, uncertainly.

"Same as last year give or take a hundred pounds," Amber replies, rather calmly, though there is a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"You don't sound so sure, Skipper." Collin states, bringing her slight hesitation to light.

Amber bristles at the word Skipper. She was notorious for not having her crew call her Captain or Skipper. She knows Collin is doing in a mocking way, but there is a hint of respect and knowing of his place under it. She does not dignify the Greenhorn with a response. She gives her men a nod. "Dismissed, but be ready to work when I give the order."

The men start to file out of the wheelhouse. As the others head for their bunks, Amber stops engineer Tony Miles.

"What is it Amber?" he asks.

"Everything in the engine room taken care of?" she counters.

"Yep, and the hydraulics are running just as smooth as can be." Tony replies. He gives her a once over. "You feelin' alright?"

Amber gives him a nod. "I'm fine Tony, go join the others and get some rest."

Tony glances at her again, and then heads down to the galley.

"You shouldn't lie like that, Amber," Marty says.

"My job is to keep them alive, Marty, if they hear anything about the way stress has been getting to me the last few days, they'll be too worried about me and won't be paying attention to the sea and where they are on deck, I can't tell someone's wife or girlfriend that her man was lost at sea, Marty."

"They have a right to know," Marty counters. "At least tell Frank, and I agree, the less Collin knows the better."

Amber nods.

"Now then, Captain Jennings, you go get some sleep, I'll take the wheel for a while.

~.*.~

Within two days of leaving Dutch the _Aleutian Queen _was on her chosen fishing grounds and was setting some prospect strings to test the ground. The sooner Amber was on the crab the sooner they all could go home.


	5. The First Offload

Nearly two weeks into the fishing season Amber has found a honey hole and has manages to get the _Queen's _holding tanks nearly full. She sighs contently just as the radio beeps with an incoming transmission.

"_Hey Queenie, It's your Lady in Waiting." _Josh Harris says on the other end.

"Josh, kinda busy right now, later?" Amber replies.

"_Aw, c'mon, Amber," _Josh whines. _"By the way, dinner was lovely the other night."_

"Glad you liked it, I gotta go Josh, gotta call the canary to move up our offload date."

"_Still the over achiever, Dad would be proud," _Josh sighs.

"Yeah…" Amber is silent for a moment. "If you are planning on being town sometime in the next few days I'll take you up on that dinner at the Grand you had asked about the other day."

"_Really?!" _There is a long pause from the other end. _"I mean, thanks for finally giving me a straight answer on that. I'll see you in Dutch, Captain Jennings."_ With that the conversation ended.

~.*.~

A few hours later the _Queen_ starts her two day steam back to Dutch Harbor. Marty has taken over the helm so that Amber can get the rest that she needs, but she has elected to stay in the wheelhouse for the time being. She finds herself thinking about having dinner with Josh, and then about Phil. She sighs, thinking that if he had only listened to his doctors, and her, he'd still be fishing, or retired somewhere in Hawaii. She shakes her head as tears come to her eyes; she starts to wonder if she'd die in her boat's wheelhouse someday.

"Something wrong, Cap?" Marty asks looking over at her.

"No, I'm fine Marty, just started thinking about an old friend of mine," Amber replies.

"Well, it be too early in the season for you to start thinking about our mortality, so just stop thinking about it."

"Wasn't thinking of the crew's mortality Marty, I was… thinking about my own." Amber admits to the older man.

"Huh, well, hopefully we won't have to worry about that any time soon." Marty tells her.

"You never know when we'll need to start thinking about it Uncle Marty." Amber replies, calling Marty uncle for the first time since she was a little kid.

Marty nods. "Hopefully it's me before you."

Amber gives him a look before turning her gaze back to the grey-blue waters of the Bering Sea. The waves are choppy, but if the crew was out on deck they would have been able to work.

~.*.~

After her two day steam from the fishing grounds, the _Queen_ sits docked outside the Crown Royal Canary. Most of the crew is down on deck overseeing the offload while Amber sits in the wheelhouse plotting the next trip out. After a while she sees one of the canary workers toss something a side, a dead crab. She now watches the off-loading more carefully.

At ten o'clock the last of the crab is lifted out of the holding tanks. There is very little dead loss, to which Amber is grateful for. This trip the _Aleutian Queen_ has made over two hundred thousand dollars, which gives each deck hand a little over twenty thousand dollars. She calls a meeting in the wheelhouse.

"Well, we've had a successful first trip; we'll stay here in town tonight, top off our fuel tanks in the morning, then head out tomorrow afternoon. Now hit the racks and get some well-deserved sleep." Amber says.

The men all nod then head for their bunks. Of course Marty stays behind.

"You should get some sleep as well Amber." He says.

"I plan to Marty," she replies, heading for her stateroom.


	6. Dinner Date at the Grand

Dawn breaks just as Amber wakes from a troubled slumber. She gets out of bed and heads to the galley to get some coffee. Her men are still in their racks, not willing to wake up at the crack of dawn when the boat was set to leave for part two of the season at one o'clock in the afternoon.

"Bit early, ain't it?" Marty asks.

"Not if you didn't sleep well," Amber replies.

"Were you up all night?"

"Might as well have been," Amber scoffs, taking a sip of the freshly brewed coffee, "at first I couldn't get comfortable, then the room got cold, then I got a pounding headache; and when I finally got to sleep I had all these weird dreams, and then I woke up, heart pounding and all."

"Sounds like you've been through Hell," Marty commented.

"I also look and feel like Hell," Amber sighs deeply, "what's the weather gonna be like for the next few days?"

"It'll be good for fishing," Marty says,taking a long drag on his now lukewarm coffee, "when I was in the wheelhouse earlier this morning I saw the _Cornelia Marie_ pull into the harbor and dock a few slips from us; looks like you and Josh'll be able to have your dinner date at the Grand."

"It's not a dinner date, Marty; Josh offered to buy me dinner and I accepted."

"Then why accept?"

"It's a long story Marty,"

"Then give me the cliff notes version."

"Let's just say Phil and I made a bet a few years ago, and I lost a few days ago."

"And that bet was acceptingan invitation to dinner with Josh?"

Amber nods.

"Good Lord, girl." Marty says, shaking his head.

~.*.~

Ten o'clock finds Amber walking the few feet to the_ Cornelia Marie_. She hadn't been on that boat since the last time she had seen Phil alive. As she approaches, Scotty Hillstrand comes up to the rail.

"Well, well, Miss _Aleutian Queen_, Dad said you was back in town." He says.

"Hey, Scotty, do I have permission to board,or do I have to wait on the the dock?"

_"You'll come on this boat, Amber."_ She hears a gruff voice say in the back of her mind.

A loud snap near her ear brings her back to reality.

"Amber, didn't you hear me, you're a captain, superstition can't touch you." Scotty says for what seemed like the third time.

"Sorry, Scotty," Amber replies, as she boards the _Cornelia Marie_. "Must be the sleep depravation."

"I'll never get why you Norwegian skippers feel the need to stay up for more than you can handle." Scotty commented.

"Can it, Hillstrand, I hardly slep last night, and the boat was tied to a dock." Amber retorts, slapping the back of his heas.

"Ow, Amber!"

"Alright you two, cut it out." Josh says, as he steps out of the ready room.

"Hi Josh,"Amber murmurs.

"Hey, you go on up to the wheelhouse, I'll bring some coffee up." Josh replies.

Amber nods and goes up to the wheelhouse. She sits down in the Co-Captain's chairand looks out towards Priest Rock. She then turns her attention to the deck to see Josh and Scotty messing around. She sighs and shakes her head. _Boys will be boys,_ she thinks while watching them. Suddenly the wheelhouse grows cold, mush like her stateroom the night before. In the corner of her eye she sees a shadow occupying the Captain's Chair, but when she turns to face it, the shadow vanishes . she shutters as she get a feeling like she's being watched. She leans back in the chair, telling her self that she is suffering from early onset Bering Sea Dementia.

Josh comes up from the galley holding two steaming mugs of coffee. He notes the paleness of Amber's skin, but doesn't mention it.

"Here, this'll help stave off the chill from standing out in the cold." He says, handing Amber one of the mugs.

"Thanks Josh," Amber murmurs.

"Not a problem," Josh replies.

Amber sighs deeply, her skin still pale, and her face pinched with a little lingering stress.

"You okay, Amber?" Josh asks.

"I'm fine, just tired and a little stressed, but don't let that get around the fleet, especially not to Sig, he'd kill me if he knew how stressed I am."

"This wheelhouse is like Vegas, Amber."

"Meaning wat happens here will be on TMZ tonight?" Amber asks.

"No, everything said between us will stay here, but that doesn't cover what my crew may overhear."

Amber nods. "I can live with that." She sips absently at her coffee.

"Earlier when I came up here you looked a little spooked, did something happen?"

"Do you ever get the feeling that you're being watched when you're up here?" Amber asks, countering Josh's question.

"Sometimes, why do you ask?"

"Just wondering," Amber says, brushing it off and not telling Josh about the shadow.

"Well, it's ten-thirty, want to head over to the Grand so we can get a table?"

"Sure,"Amber nods, getting up. She sways and leans heavily on the Co-Captain's Chair.

"You alright there, Amber?" Josh asks.

"Just a little dizzy, let's go."

~.*.~

An hour later finds the two captains in the dinning room of the Grand Aleutian Hotel. Amber has a half eaten salad in front of her. Josh has a stake and lobster dinnerin frontof him.

"Alright Amber, I know something's up, spill." Josh says, tired of Amber's silence.

"I'm going crazy," is all Amber says.

"How so?" Josh asks.

"I've been seeing... God this is going to sound wierd, I've been seeing...and hearing Phil."

Josh gives her a questioning look. "Uh...yeah that does sound a little on the wierd side." He says with a strangled sigh.

"I'm sorry Josh, I feel as if Phil is trying to warn me about something, whatever it is I don't know, nor do I want to find out." Amber says.

"It's okay Amber, I get the same feeling sometimes."

Amber nods in understanding. She slowly eats the rest of her salad.

"So you and the_ Queen_ leaving port this afternoon?"

Amber nods. "I'd fish for Tanners, but I don't want to be fishing over Christmas."

"Damn, I was hoping you's be fishing for Tanners after Kings."

"And why is that, Joshua Harris?" Amber asks.

"I was thinking you and I could partner up."

"Radio fishing and Partner fishing aren't my style, but I might consider it for Opie season."]

"There you go being vague again."

"Learn to deal with it Josh."

He laughs. "I just might."

The check comes and Josh pays. They walk back to the docks, passing Latitudes Bar. Josh thinks about asking if Amber wanted to get a drink, then remembers that she doesn't drink until after the season is over.

"Screw superstition for once, I need a drink." Amber says, going into the bar. She orders a Duck Fart and belts it down.

"Well, I see you'vegotten past not drinking during the fishing season." Josh says, ordering a beer.

"I'm only having one drink Josh," Amber says, looking at the clock on the wall. "Shit. I gotto go Josh, I'll see you around." She says, leaving.

Josh smiles and watches her leave. He thinks about her as he finishes his beer and heads back to the _Cornelia Marie_.


	7. Christmas in Seattle

**A/N: This is a fill in chapter. **

~.*.~

The two weeks following the end of the King Crab season finds Amber back home in Seattle, Washington, though she has started thinking about taking up a permanent residence in Dutch, so she wouldn't have to make week long treck by water, which could be a little scary at times, or fly in to Dutch if she ever left the boat there, and she had heard some stories about that terrifying experiance at the bar in town. Right now she is making her famous homemade pickled herring in an attempt to get in the Christmas spirit, even though it is only the day before the last day of November. She always makes it a point each Christmas to make them for Sig, knowing that it was his favorite Norwegian dish. She smiles to herself a little as she pours the brine into three Ball Mason jars on the counter. _Sig would flip if he knew I put a little Tabasco sause in this_, she thinks. She then adds the herring to the brine and seals the lids, just as the phone rings.

"Hello," she says, suppressing a sigh.

_"Morning, little sister, how are you after your fishing excursion?"_ Daniel Jennings asks.

"Tired," Amber replies dryly.

_"Kinda figured that one Amber,"_ Daniel deadpans.

"Now I know you didn't call just to ask after me, Danny, what do you want?"

_"Now that you have had your fun, will you con-"_

"No, the answer will always be no as far as you and Stewart are concerned. Dad wanted you two to become fishermen, but no, you two had to go to college to get away from our blue-collar life style." Amber states.

_"That line of work isn't cut out for...a person of your nature."_

"And what in God's name is that supposed to mean? Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean that I'm not a force to be recond with Daniel; besides you and Stewart never took an interest in the family business until both Mom and Dad died, so I don't want to hear it."

_"I'm just thinking of what's best for you and the boat, Amber."_

"Best for me and the boat, huh? Oh that's a rich one older brother since you wanted to cut her length down and make a yachet out of her to take to the yachet club every Saturday." Amber laughs. "You are half Norwegian, to think that you don't hear the ocean calling out to you while you sit in your plush corner office, come salmon tendering with me over the summer, you'll learn then."

Daniel is silent for a moment. _"Well the offer I made you still stands."_

"And I'm still turning it down."

_"Not for long,"_

"That's an empty threat brother, dear." Ammber says before hanging up.

Before she could get the jars into the fridge the phone rings again. She answers.

"The answer is still no Stewart, Daniel just called, see you at Christmas, maybe."

_"Whoa, easy cousin I ain't tryin' to buy the Queen out from under you." _Sig says in surrender.

"Sig, sorry, I just got off the phone with Danny," Amber apologizes.

_"I can understand, so I called to let you know that I want you and your brothers to come over to my place on Christmas Day for a little family get together."_

"I'll be there."

~.*.~

Christmas Day dawns bright and clear, though Amber really isn't looking forward to going to the Hansen household and seeing her older brothers. She smiles to herself knowing that Sig will keep them off her back about the _Aleutian Queen _for good if they so much as even thinking of bringing it up. She gets up and takes a quick shower and dressing in her best plaid shirt and jeans, Crabber Christmas usually means come as you are.

After showering she goes to the kitchen to have a light breakfast, knowing that with Sig's mother and wife cooking there would be more than enough food to go around. She looks down at her jeans and runs back up to her room where she changes into a maxi-skirt deciding the jeans made her look less the feminine. She applies a little makeup to hide the bags under her eyes.

She returns to the kitchen and gets a jar of the pickled herring out of the fridge and places it in a wine bottle bag before setting out for the Hansen household.

~.*.~

Amber isn't in the Hansen house ten minutes before her brothers see her and start laying into her about the boat. Of course cousin Sig steps in and Amber makes her retreat into the den with a cup of coffee. Among the other guests is the whole crew of the_ Northwestern_ and other distant reitives of Sig's family, and a few family friends. Amber silently thanks God that the den is unoccupied when she feels the tell tale signs that she forgot to take her medication this morning. She sets her cup on the coffee table and lays down on the leather sofa. After a little while Norman Hansen, of all people, comes in.

"Hey, I hear someone made a killing for her comeback season." He murmurs.

"Pissed a few people off, but that's the name of the game...I guess." She replies, a strained smile on her lips.

Norm laughs at her statement. "That's an understatement, cousin."

Amber's only responce is a weak cough.

"You alright, Amber?"

"I'm fine Norm,"

The middle Hansen gives her a skeptical look. "Okay, I just think you're a little pale."

"Being around Danny and Stew will do that to me." Amber replies, getting up.

~.*.~

A little over an hour later and a few shots of Crown Royale Amber seems to be more relaxed around her extended family. She seemlessly switches between Norwegian and American, as some of the older members of the family still spoke exclusively in Norwegian.

After another hour people hour most everyone has left. Amber,as well as the other members of the _Northwestern's _crew stay to help do the dishes an cleen the house. After a while the men retreat to the back deck to discuss the coming opilio season. Amber follows and stands in the door jam, listening to the conversation. No one notices her presence for a few minutes, until Sig looks over and motions for her to join the meeting. She takes a seat in the empty chair between her eldest third cousin and Nick Mavar Jr.; the senior _Northwestern _deck hand looks skepically at his captain then the woman next to him.

"You have to be kidding me," he mutters, more to himself than to anyone sitting around the table.

"Nick," Sig says, giving the man a warning look, "she's family, on land and out at sea, and I trust her not to blab about our plans."

"She's a woman, dude." Matt Bradly interjects.

"And she's also a captain, so superstition is null and void with her." Sig reasons. "Anybody else want to voice their opinions?"

There is silence from Jake, Norman and Edgar.

"No, good. Now here's the game plan..."

~.*.~

A few days after Christmas, Amber starts to prepare for the long, physically and emotionally taxing Opilio season ahead. After hearing Sig's plans at Christmas she has adjusted hers so it wouldn't look like she was copying the _Northwestern's _stratigy. _This is going to be a long, hard grind._


	8. Opilio Season- Part One: Wierd Dreams

**A/N: paragrahs that are in italics are dream sequences.**

~.*.~

_The boat listed heavily to port. Water was starting to overwhelm the pumps and the boat would most likely capsize and sink. Amber was in the wheel house trying hard to right her boat, but deep down she knew that the Queen was a goner._

_She picked up the mic for the two way radio. "Mayday, mayday, mayday, this is the Aleutian Queen and we are taking on water and...Ohmigod..."_

Amber sits bolt upright in bed. It's just after midnight and she is planing on starting the week long trip, by water, to Dutch tomorrow. She grabs her phone off the night stand and starts thumbing through her contacts. When she stops Johnathan Hillstrand's number is highlighted.

"What the Hell," she mutters as she presses the call button. It immediatly goes to voice mail. "Hey John, it's Amber, call me back as soon as you get this."

Ten minutes later her phone vibrates. "'ello?" she answers tiredly.

_"Amber, it's Johnathan, you sounded kinda distressed in your message, you alright?" he asks._

"Not really..." Amber confesses.

_"Not feeling well?" Johnathan asks._

"Something like that," Amber hears Johnathan sigh.

_"Lucky for you I'm in Seattle at the moment, can I meet up with you in the morning?"_

"Sure, but pack your seabag, I'm throwing lines tomorrow."

_"Free ride to Dutch, sounds good to me,"_

"Thanks Johnathan," Amber says before hanging up.

~.*.~

The morning of December 27 dawns foggy and rainy, not unusual for Seattle in winter. Amber packs the last few things needed for the season in her seabag. She then locks the door to her house and sets off in her truck to the Ballard Docks.

She arrives at the docks fifteen minutes later. Before leaving her truck she takes a few deep breaths. "I'm gonna have a heart attack," she mutters, trying to calm her nerves. She heaves another breath of air into her lungs, slowly letting it out moments later. This isn't her first Opilio season, but it sure as hell feels like it by the way she is acting. She finally gets out of the truck when she sees Marty pull into the spot nearest hers.

"It's only been two days after Christmas and you want to get back up to Dutch?" the relief skipper asks.

"The more we get taken care of now, the less we have to do right before the season starts." Amber replies, walking down the dock toward her boat.

"Knew you'd say that..." Marty grubbles, following slightly behind.

"I never said that you were required to come with me, I know Aunt Ida would like you to stay home every now and again."

"Ida also knows that you have that heart condition and that it is safer for you to make the week long trip with someone with you, besides, she couldn't care less, so long as you keep paying me good."

Ambe chuckles. "Well, technically I won't be going up alone this time."

"Who is going with you then?" Marty asks confused, as they pull themselves over the starboard rail.

"One Johnathan Hillstrand of the _Time Bandit_,"

There is a loud chuckle from the forepeak. "Took you two long enough," Johnathan says, emerging from the bait area.

"Traffic," Amber and Marty say in unison.

Johnathan chuckles again, he could tell the other two are related.

"Well lets not stand out here like a couple of Yankees, be ready to throw lines when I give the signal." Amber says as she unlocks the door to the ready room and galley.

A shaggy haired kid appears on the dock and looks at the boat. "Captain Jennings, Captain Jennings." he calls.

Amber has just entered the wheelhouse after starting the boat's main engines. She opens the window. "What is it Andrew?" she asks.

"Can I come along? I've packed a duffle bag." The boy answers.

"Are you skipping school?" Amber asks skeptically.

"No ma'am," Andrew says in reply, "Mom enrolled me in online high school, and I'm doing better."

"Good, did you talk to her about it?"

"She thinks it would be a good thing for me to do."

Amber sighs in contimplation. _Lord, forgive me_, she prays. "Alright, but I will call your mother and if she says that none of what you said is true, I am putting you on the first plane out of Dutch."

"That's cool with me Captain Jennings."

"Alright, Andrew get up on the bow line so we can get a move on." she grabs the mic for th loud hailer, "Marty, Johnathan, one of you get up on the bow and the other get on the stern we're casting off."

~.*.~

_She watched as one large wave after another broke over the bow. Each one was larger than the last. She grabbed the loud hailer mic. "Okay boys," she said, "I'm callin' it, it's rought to work." At that moment a rouge wave broke over the port side, sweepping the crew over to the starboard side. After a few seconds the water cleared and amber starts mentally counting heads, only greenhorn Collin McDaniel was missing. Again she grabbed the loud hailer mic. "Where's the greenhorn?" Only silence met her question. "Guys, where's Collin?" Again only silence met her question. She then knew..._

"Collin?!" her own desperite calling wakes her up.

Amber looks around unsure of where she's at, then she realizes that she is on her boat, and that it wasn't moving. She gets out of her bunk and goes up to the wheelhouse and sees that they are sitting at the dock. Marty is sitting in the captain's chair. "When did we get into Dutch?" she asks.

"Just a little while ago," Marty replies, "I took the libery of calling Andrew's mother and she was able to confirm what he told you, and she does think that this will benefit him in some way."

Amber nods. "Good, because I didn't want to buy the kid a plane ticket home."

"You are too soft hearted." Marty comments.

"Blame Yohnny,"

"Who's Yohnny?" Marty asks, slightly perplexed.

"Sig, I'm the only one that can get away with calling him by his middle name only."

Marty chuckles. "Should've known that."

"Wellp, I think I'm gonna go over to Latitudes for a while to catch up on the gossup."

"John and Andrew are already down there."

Amber nods and heads out. There are still a few weeks before the season is set to begain so it is still safe for Amber to endulge in one or two alcoholic beverages before hand. She puts on her _Aleutian Queen_ jacket and heads out.


	9. Opilio Season- Part Two: The Camera Man

Amber enters Latitudes bar and sits down at the Captains' Table. One of the bartenders comes over to her and asks what she wants to drink. She orders a Duck Fart and a Dr. Pepper chaser; she belts the Duck Fart down in one swallow. As she sips on her Dr. Pepper one of the camera men from the docu-series _Deadliest Catch_ sits down on the stool beside her.

"Well, well, I am in the presence of a true legend." He says, giving Amber a side long glance.

"I think you had better talk to some of my male contemporaries, I have not part in _Deadliest Catch_ and it is unlikely that I will ever," She replies.

"Now Captain Jennings, you know that the show likes to feature a new boat every now and again, this year we were referred to you by a few of the other captains, all we ask is one trip and then if you so desire we will have the camera men assigned to you get off and take all the camera and sound equipment with them, sound fair enough?"

Amber nods and finishes her Dr. Pepper. "It sounds fair enough, but I need to sign a contract to make it legal, right?"

"Of course, I was only throwing the idea out there."

Amber looks at the man. "Well, you seem to know my name, may I have the knowledge of yours?" She asks.

"Will Cooper, ma'am, I'm one of Thom Beers' right hand men."

"Well, Mister Cooper, perhaps you should join me for supper tonight," Amber says, glancing around the bar, trying to find the face of someone she knows.

"Say six o'clock at The Grand?" Cooper asks.

"Yes, that sounds doable." Amber replies.

Cooper nods then walks out of the bar. A few moments later Johnathan, Andrew, and Andy walk up to the Captains' Table.

"You really shouldn't bring the kid in here, he's under age." Amber says, addressing Johnathan.

"Captain Jennings, Captain John has been buying me Mountain Dew since we got here, and both he and Captain Andy have been giving me advice on how to survive my first trip." Andrew replies, defending himself.

"That's the way of it, I swear." Andy says, slightly unnerved by the female captain's intense glare.

Amber nods. "Speaking of surviving your first trip, Andrew, I need to take you over to the Fish and Game office so you can get a drug screening and your fishing license."

"We gonna do that now or later?" Andrew asks.

"It needs done sooner rather than later," Amber confirms, "so sometime today or tomorrow would be ideal."

Andrew nods. "I should go back to the boat then."

"Not a bad idea." Amber agrees.

The three skippers watch as the kid leaves. "Where on earth did you find that guy?" Andy Hillstrand asks.

"Honestly, Andy," Amber begins, "You really don't want to know."

"That's why I asked, I want to know."

Amber glances around to make sure the boy actually left before telling Andy his history. After hearing the kid's story Andy sighs. "Man, now I feel like a total ass for asking that question."

"You should." Amber replies.

~.*.~

Later, after getting the kid his fishing license, Amber pulls Andrew from working on deck and takes him up to the wheelhouse.

"Whoa," Andrew breathes as he takes in all the tech, "you almost need to go to college to operate this stuff."

"Yeah, trust me Andrew, I have taken a few computer courses at Seattle Community College and some online classes from Cal Maritime." Amber replies.

"You've taken college classes?" Andrew asks, unbelieving.

"Yes, I have two older brothers that went to Ivy League schools out of high school, and I've been doing this since I graduated high school," Amber answers, "that is the good thing about fishing, I have a small surplus of funds to further my education." She pauses for a moment. "Andrew the reason I brought you up here is because you will be spending time up here when the weather gets rough."

"I will still be fishing, won't I?" the youth asks.

"Yes, but with you as green as you are there will be times where it will be too dangerous for you to be out on deck; and by that time I will also have to worry about having camera men on deck as well."

"Camera men?"

"Some guy from _Deadliest Catch_ came up to me at the bar and wants me to sign a contract to be on the show when it airs this summer."

"You gonna do it, be on the show I mean?" Andrew askes.

"I'm gonna talk it over with Marty, Tony, and Frank first," Amber replies, "my crew should be here tomorrow, so that's when you'll get some training, and meet your fellow shipmates."

"Is Collin one?"

"Collin who?"

"Collin McDaniel, he's a distant cousin of mine."

"Oh, well that's good to know." Amber sighs, wishing this had been brought to light earlier.

~.*.~

A few hours later Amber is dressed in her best western shirt, her best pair of Levi's jeans, and her cowboy boots. She hasn't really been looking forward to this dinner date and is wishing that it is over soon. Aside from that she'd been talking to Marty about it all afternoon, he isn't all gung-ho for having two or three extra people on the boat, actually he isn't thrilled that there's an eighteen year old kid on the boat now either, but he seems to be willing to give it a shot.

"You ready?" he asks.

"I'd be lyin' if I said yes, I get the feeling that this is going to go well and we'll be stuck with Hollywood and their so called reality TV," Amber replies with a heavy sigh.

"The decision is all yours, Amber, just read the contract all the way through before you sign it, if you see something you don't like, don't sign."

"Always the voice of reason you are, Marty."

"I do try," the older deck hand chuckles, "now get going, you don't want to be late."


	10. Opilio Season- Part Three: No to Fame

Amber arrives at the Grand Aleutian Hotel just a little after five that evening. She is more than a little nervous about meeting, yet she has brought her own pen to sign if she likes the terms of the contract. When she enters the dining room she sits down at a table near the back and orders a Blue Moon beer and a garden salad to start off her meal. She can feel her heart pounding in her chest as she takes a sip of her beer, and wonders why she had even agreed to this in the first place. Will Cooper enters a little later than the agreed upon time. She sighs upon seeing the executive producer for the hit Discovery Channel series.

"You're late," she says.

"Got a little held up on the phone with the mastermind himself, right hand man, remember?" Will replies.

Amber hums skeptically. "Well, let me see the contract so we can get this over with."

"Straight to business? I would have thought you would want to talk about how you came into this line of work and your relationships with your male counterparts," Will says, surprised.

"Look, I have better things I could be doing this evening, right now you have my full attention, if you want to keep me on the hook, then show me the contract," Amber states, using a very unintended fishing pun.

Will rolls his eyes and gets the contract out of his briefcase. "Well, here it is, just skim it, even I can't understand all that legal mumbo jumbo that Discovery's lawyers put in these things."

"Luckily I have a brother that went to law school and I'd read his textbooks when I couldn't sleep," Amber replies as she starts to read the contract over, muttering certain things as she reads them. "No, I don't think so."

"No what?" Will asks.

"I'm not going to sign this," Amber replies, "if I were to sign this, I'd want my boat to be featured accurately, not edited as Discovery deems fit to give the illusion of a set plotline," she quotes.

"Wow, a lot of people miss that, very impressive."

Now Amber rolls her eyes. She calls the waiter over and asks for the check. "He's paying," she tells the waiter.

Will nods grudgingly as the waiter nods and leaves to grab the check.

~.*.~

On her way back to the boat, Amber stops over at Latitudes for a drink. After she orders her drink, she stands at the bar and sighs. Johnathan comes up and puts an arm around her shoulders.

"How'd it go?" He asks.

"Well my face won't be on camera any time soon, if that's what you're asking," Amber replies.

The older captain nods. "Understandable. Marty didn't have anything to do with that decision, did he?"

"No, Marty was actually willing to go along with having a camera crew on the boat, but left the final decision up to me."

Johnathan lays a twenty on the bar. "Best you go get some rest, there's busy days ahead of us."

Amber gives him a look, knowing that he is trying to pay for her round. However, she smiles and lets him get away with it...this time. "Remind me to buy you a drink after the season," she said.

Johnathan smiles. "Now you don't have to do that Ams, I know you're good for it."

~.*.~

When Amber gets back to her boat she goes up to her stateroom. As soon as she lays down on her bunk she is sleeping. She would tell Marty her decision regarding inviting a camera crew on the _Aleutian Queen_ in the morning.

_Another wave swamped the deck of the Aleutian Queen. With only one of her two main engines functional, it was only a matter of time until the Bering Sea overpowered the vessel. Amber had already put out a distress call to the Coast Guard and her crew were already in survival suits and awaiting the order to deploy the life raft and abandon ship._

_From out of nowhere a rogue plows into the port side, causing the boat to roll onto her starboard side. Amber didn't have to give the order the crew knew that it was a race against time to get off the floundering vessel before she capsized completely. Just as she was carefully making her way out of the wheelhouse another huge wave jolted the Queen and sent Amber into the freezing water of the Bering Sea..._

Amber sits bolt upright in her bunk. "What is it with these weird dreams?" She asks, only getting the soft sound of the water of Captain's Bay washing against the _Queen's_ hull for an answer. She looks at the clock on the wall and it reads two-thirty in the morning; she knows that Marty is sleeping in his own bunk and that he wouldn't want to be disturbed for something as trivial as a nightmare about the boat sinking. Besides, it is considered bad luck to dwell on dreams like this by most, if not all Bering Sea captains.

She quietly gets up and goes down to the galley and starts a pot of coffee brewing. When the coffee finishes, she pours some into a mug and goes out on deck to get some air. Across the way she sees that the _Northwestern_, the_ Cornelia Marie_, and the _Cape Caution_ have all arrived earlier in the night. All the boats are dark, except for a light on in the _Northwestern's_ wheelhouse.

_Of course Sig is still up_, she thinks as a small smile comes to her lips.

She goes back inside and finds Marty, who has awakened to someone walking around, is sitting at the galley table. "Bit early for coffee, ain't it?" He asks.

Amber nods. "At a certain time of the night caffeine puts me to sleep, so this is me hoping this is that time of night."

Marty nods as he gives her a knowing smile. "More nightmares about...?"

Again the female captain nods.

"You really need to talk to someone about all this, speaking of, Sig stopped by earlier this evening hoping he could have a word with you, but since you were in the rack he expects you on the Northwestern for supper tomorrow night at five, Edgar is cooking."

"Thanks Marty."

"You get back to bed young lady, we have a shit ton of work to do tomorrow."

Amber nods heading back to her stateroom, hoping that the nightmares were over for the night.


	11. Opilio Season- Part Four: Family

Amber wakes with a jolt well after ten in the morning. She hadn't slept all that well when she went back to bed; she sits up and yawns, just wanting to lay back down and go back to sleep. She drags herself out of her bunk and goes into her private bathroom to take a shower. After she gets dressed for the day she looks at her phone and sees that Tony had left a message saying that the plane they all were on would be in Dutch at noon for sure today, and that call had been last night when she had been sleeping. It is now a little after eleven, so Amber goes down to the galley and gets herself a cup of semi-lukewarm coffee for her breakfast. Before she leaves to go to the very small Dutch Harbor airport, she puts on her _Aleutian Queen_ jacket and goes out on deck. She takes note of Marty teaching Andrew how to cut cod to make hanging bait for the pots.

"Hey Marty, I'm gonna go meet the rest of the boys at the airport, mind if I borrow Andrew?" She asks.

"What do you need the kid for, I'm teaching him a few valuable skills now so he looks like he knows what he's going when we get to the crab grounds." Marty retorts.

Amber sighs. "Carry on then, and Andrew, be careful those knives are sharp enough to shave with."

The shaggy haired kid nods. "See ya later, Captain Jennings."

With that Amber hops off the boat and sets off down the dock to find a truck to bring her crew back to the boat. She arrives at the airport about ten minutes later, just as the plane is landing on the runway.

"That is the last time I fly up here, the next time Amber offers us a free ride up here I'm taking it," Roy Penn states as he enters the terminal.

"Suck it up Penn, at least you didn't get air sick like Tony," Collin replies, patting Roy on the back.

Tony takes the dig at his pride like a man and says nothing. Flying was never an easy thing for him and this time the motion sickness pills hadn't worked as well as he had hoped they would. He sighs, just glad that the plane hadn't hit the forward mast of a boat that was docked at the fuel dock.

"Lay off the man Collin," Rodney admonishes the greenhorn, "not everyone can handle turbulence, I felt a little queasy myself."

Collin sighs and looks over at Frank.

"Don't you push it kid," the deck boss states.

By now Amber is standing in front of them. "You boys have a good flight in?" she asks.

They all nod, knowing that she knew what they had been saying.

"Good, get your bags then meet me outside," she says, turning on her heel heading for the door.

~.*.~

Later, the _Aleutian Queen_ is docked near a pot storage facility. While her more seasoned deckhands stack and chain the pots to the deck, Amber shows Andrew and Collin how to repair holes in the nylon webbing. Once she is satisfied that the two greenhorns can do the job without her looking over their shoulders she gets in the truck and heads back into town to buy groceries for the trip, and to get rain gear and a survival suit for Andrew, whom has already provided her with his sizes.

Of course, when she gets to the market she finds that they are out of eggs. "Dammit, Johnathan..." She mutters in frustration. She actually had expected this, knowing that the_ Time Bandit_ is the boat that likes to prank everyone in the fleet. So with that she decides to pay the Hillstrands a visit to buy the eggs from them.

After making her purchases and arranging for the groceries to be taken to the boat Amber sets out for the docks to pay some of her fellow captains a visit. As she parks her borrowed truck, and sets off down the docks she becomes aware of someone following her. She turns on her heal to see another of the cameramen that descend on the small fishing town.

"I done said no to your colleague the other day," she tells him.

"Captain Jennings, do you know who I am?" The guy asks.

"Does it really matter?" Amber counters.

"Yes it does, since I am the executive producer."

"Holy crap, you're Thom Beers?!"

"Yes ma'am, and I fired that Will Cooper," Beers says.

"Why, I mean it's not like he harassed me or anything," Amber replies.

''The contract he showed you was one that he typed up, this is the actual one; you read it over, talk it over with your crew, and meet me at the Grand tomorrow evening."

Amber takes the folded papers from the executive producer. "You'll see me then."

~.*.~

Later that evening Amber finds herself on the _Northwestern_. She arrives a little early so she can help out with the cooking if necessary. She hauls herself over the rail and makes her way into the galley, she coughs when the strong scent of forty plus years of cigarette smoke invades her nasal cavities.

"You're early," Edgar says from the kitchen area.

"Thought I'd better be to make up for being asleep when Sig wanted to talk," Amber replies, stepping into the kitchen. "Need some help?"

"No, I wouldn't do that to you since you're a guest and all." Edgar checks something in the oven, before going over and sitting at the galley table.

Amber eyes her youngest older cousin skeptically for a moment. She coughs as the smell of cigarette smoke hits her again.

"Not feeling well?" Edgar asks.

"No, just the scent of forty some years of cigarette smoke invading my air ways," Amber says through another coughing fit.

Now Edgar eyes her skeptically. "You're looking pale Amber, maybe a home cooked meal will do you some good," his tone is conversational and laced with some concern for the female captain's health.

"If you cook as good as your mother…" Amber says.

Edgar smiles. "Have you never had my salted cod and potatoes?"

"Honestly I can't remember, I know my mother made good salted cod."

Sig emerges from the wheelhouse. "She lives," he says seeing Amber at the galley table. His light smile turns to a deep frown when he sees how pale and tired she looks. "You coming down with something?"

Amber shakes her head. She sighs, figuring she'd better tell someone other than Marty what is going on. "No, try having ultra vivid nightmares every night."

Edgar gives a concerned look while his older brother hisses in sympathy. "What are these nightmares about?" Sig asks, more or less brushing superstition aside.

"The first one was after Christmas, the boat was in rough seas and we were taking on water…I woke before anything else happened," Amber replies.

Sig and Edgar nod. "You two chat up in the wheelhouse, I'll call when supper's ready," the deck boss says, getting up from the galley table.

"You want some coffee, Amber?" Sig asks, getting up and filling his Cal Maritime mug.

"You have any tea, the high caffeine content of coffee won't help anything going on with my ticker." Amber replies, cryptically saying that all this was messing with her heart.

Edgar hears the request and finds a box of the herbal tea that Nick had bought the season nearly everyone had come down with the flu. "All we got is herbal tea that is most likely outdated." He says.

"That's fine Ed, two bags and a little honey and peppermint oil if you all have it, if not black is fine," Amber yawns.

"I'm going on up, you come on up after your tea gets brewed," Sig says going up the steps to the wheelhouse.

~.*.~

Supper with the _Northwestern_ crew is nearly silent, save for murmurs about how good Edgar's cooking is. Of course everyone expresses concern for Amber's health and advise her to let Marty take over for this season.

"Guys, these dreams are really the only thing stressing me out ten ways to Sunday, I can still fish," she insists.

"We're just making some suggestions," Sig says putting an arm around her shoulders, "and here's another, you'll stay here tonight, maybe a change in scenery is what you need to get rid of these horrifying visions."

The others go about gathering the dishes and putting them in the sink to be washed at a later time. They are shocked to see the fair haired Hansen take on this gentle, older brother like demeanor with the female captain. It's no secret that they are related, the whole fleet knows, but either party rarely showed it.

Amber nods, then asks, "Where do you plan on having me bed down?"

"My stateroom, I'll bed down up in the wheelhouse or with Matt, Nick and Jake."

"Thanks, but I shouldn't take your bunk,"

"Amber, you're family, it's the least I can do, especially since I promised your father I'd look out for you."

~.*.~

Amber sits bolt up right, gasping for breath. She feels her heart pounding, threatening to break her ribs. She wipes a hand across her forehead and finds sweat, but not from a fever, the nervous, anxiety driven, cold sweat.

The door to the stateroom opens and Sig comes in.

"I heard a scream and thought the guys were playing a little Xbox, told them to keep it down, but they said it wasn't them," the eldest Hansen says.

"I don't remember screaming, or even what I was dreaming about," Amber murmurs.

Sig nods. "You just try to get s'more sleep.

~.*.~

The next day the last of the pots are chained to the stack. Andrew is also safety tested by a Fish and Game officer, along with the rest of the_ Aleutian Queen's_ crew. The season is set to start on January eighth and today is December thirty-first, a mere nine days away.

Amber calls a crew meeting to go over the contract with Discovery; to her amazement everyone actually agrees that it may be a good thing to be a featured boat for a few seasons of Deadliest Catch.


End file.
